Children
of Abraham
Richard L. Shafer[1]
Do all Muslims believe the
same thing? Both Shiite and Sunni
Muslims believe in Allah (the God of Abraham), angels of God, the Qur’an as the
book of God, and the day of judgment and resurrection. But like differences in the ways Christians
believe (and behave), there are differences among Muslims. Here’s an overview of a just a few.
Recall that early Christians
followed many “schools” of belief.
Although all claimed to have begun with Jesus and one or more of the 12
Apostles, their practices reflected their different understandings of Jesus’ teachings,
and values from their own cultural backgrounds.
Similarly “...[early] Muslims were
… a single community, in which various groups formed and broke up, following
different doctrines and leaders and changing them with bewildering ease.”[2] Upon Muhammad’s death, some Muslims (a minority)
wanted to follow Muhammad’s cousin, Ali, the person they believed Muhammad had
selected as his successor. However, the
majority of Muhammad’s followers selected another person as their leader
(Caliph). The minority became known as
the party (“shi’a”) of Ali, hence “Shiites.”
Battles were fought for
leadership. Ali was killed about 30
years after Muhammad died. Ali had
served as Imam for the Shiites, and also had been recognized as Caliph by all
the Muslims for the last 5 years of his life.
After Ali’s death, his son, Hasan was named Imam by Ali’s
supporters. Like Ali, Hasan was not
accepted by the majority, and was assassinated.
After his death, his younger brother, Husayn, attempted to overthrow the
sitting Caliph and was killed in the attempt.
These deaths “provided the paradigm of suffering and
protest that has guided and inspired Shii Islam. Not found in Sunni Islam, the ideas of
martyrdom and survival through persecution have become a distinct part of
Shiite religion….[3] Each year, Shiites remember the events
leading to Husayn’s death, reliving the “ten days of MuharramI [the first month of the Muslim year] much as Christians
relive the events of the last week of the life of Jesus.[4] These “ashura”
celebrations include lamentations, wearing dark clothes and blackening faces
and bodies; begging for water (to recall thirst); beating one’s chest with
one’s fists, and self-mutilation with knives and chains. The events are recalled in drama, public
recitations and parades, and may be the most distinctive difference between
Sunnis and Shiites, at least to this writer.
But there are other differences:
Ž
Shiites hold the
tombs of their Imams (five, seven or twelve, depending on the sect) to be
sacred sites, and make formal pilgrimages to them.
Ž
Sunnis usually
pray at five different times during the day; Shiites usually combine the 2nd
and 3rd, and the 4th and 5th times.
Ž
In addition to
the religious tax called zakat,
Shiites pay khums or “fifth:” A fifth of their earnings goes to the imam
(or mulla) for their support and for “education, welfare and advancement of the
religion…[Khums helps to keep] the clergy independent of the state.”[5]
Ž
Shiite religious
law (
Just as Christianity, which had
first coalesced in the 4th century CE, has split into various sects,
so Shiism has split into sects based on which particular lineage of Imams one
follows. So: Just as not all Christians believe exactly
the same things, so too not all Muslims believe exactly the same things. No surprise!
Copyright Richard L. Shafer
[1] This is one
of a series of occasional columns in which the author, raised in the Christian
tradition, searches for common ground and common history among the teachings,
beliefs and practices of adherents of the Abrahamic faiths -- Islam, Christianity and Judaism.
[2] http://www.rim.org/muslim/shiite.htm,
quoting from Bernard Lewis, Islam in
History (Chicago: Open Court, 1993), 298
[3] http://www.rim.org/muslim/shiite.htm,
quoting John L. Esposito, Islam - The
Straight Path (New York: Oxford University Press, 1991), 45.
[4] Clark, Malcolm Islam
for Dummies (
[5] Ibid. 211